Summer gone, but wait there's more

Many Mackay locals have spent the weekend taking down some washing that was hung out to dry at the beginning of the year... well maybe that's an exaggeration but the wettest month of the year is over.

February saw an above average amount of rain but unlike last year there hasn't been a major flood event, although according to the State Emergency Service (SES) the mental anguish is still evident within the community.

Local controller for the SES Justin Englett says the stress caused by the flood last year has been obvious.

"We've had several call outs, a lot of it is due to the fact that there are high levels of anxiety as a result of last year's flooding event," he says.

The anxiety hasn't been helped by constant media reports of disasters happening around the nation with flooding occurring up north and the bushfire disaster down south.

"It's done two things it's increased the anxiety in general but it has also increased the awareness of emergency services and we're finding we're having a lot more people offering assistance to us and wanting to join the SES.

"I suppose it's bad that all these things are happening, but at the moment it is putting a lot of interest in us and it looks like we are going to get some more volunteers," said Mr Englett.

Despite the end of summer and the wettest months of the year Mr Englett says the SES will remain on edge ready for any possible flooding in the next couple of months.

"The weather people will tell you two things: it's less likely but there is still a possibility, so we always maintain our level of readiness until we definitely know that summer is over," he says.

So is the rain over for another year?

Not likely, according to climatologist Professor Roger Stone, he says it's likely for there to be above average rain for the next few months with renewed monsoonal activity reaching the Mackay area.

"Well the climate outlook still shows reasonably high rainfall probability values for the next three months... there is probably about a 60 to 65 per cent chance of above normal rain," says Professor Stone.

The wet outlook according to Professor Stone is a result of a la nina weather pattern still maintaining some shape in the Pacific Ocean.

Meaning we still have warmer than normal water around the Coral Sea resulting in wetter conditions for the region, he says.

This isn't unusual either.

"That's the sort of pattern we've had over the last 100 years, about 70 per cent of years we've had fairly much above average rainfall in the Mackay region," says Professor Stone.

But like all weather and climate outlooks there is still a chance anything could happen.

"The important thing to note is that weather systems tend to change direction around autumn and they could go anywhere then they reset themselves around May - June," says Professor Stone.